Korea Shocks Italy with Golden Goal; Turkey Knocks Out Japan

NewsJun 18, 2002

Turkey advanced to their first World Cup quarterfinals, riding the continued fine play of goalkeeper Rustu Recber to a 1-0 win against co-hosts Japan in Miyagi, Japan.

Turkey’s Umit Davala scored the game’s only goal in the 11th minute, finding himself unmarked and heading home a Ergun Penbe corner kick from six yards out. The goal was Davala’s first in the World Cup.

Japan pressured Recber throughout, but finished with nothing to show for their efforts. Their best chance came three minutes before halftime, when the Brazilian born Alex slammed a 25 yard free kick off the crossbar.

Turkey now advance to meet Senegal with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

In a World Cup full of shocks, the hosts pulled off one of the biggest of the tournament, eliminating three-time champions Italy and advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history.

Korea, who appeared to be doomed for defeat after Ahn Jung-hwan missed a penalty in the game’s fifth minute. But Ahn rebounded to head home the gamewinner in the game’s 116th minute. The win came on the same day that co-hosts Japan was eliminated from the tournament.

Italy went ahead in the 18th minute when Christian Vieri headed home a corner kick at the Korean’s near post.

With Korea scrambling for an equalizer, Italian Christian Panucci lost a ball to Seol Ki-hyeon in front of the net and Seol made no mistake, sending the game into extratime and the crowd of 39,000 into hysterics. Just before the final whistle Vieri missed a sitter inside the six-yard box.

In extra time the game took a wild turn when Italian star Francesco Totti was shown a yellow card for diving. Reduced to 10-men, Italy appeared to be heading to penalty kicks, when Ahn struck for his second goal of the tournament.